Look for it formerly throughout the Coastal Plain, Sandhills & lower Piedmont, on a wide variety of soils (sandy, loamy, clayey, or peaty) from very dry to very wet conditions, in savannas, woodlands, & forests affected by relatively frequent natural (lightning-caused) fires (likely augmented by native Americans), now reduced to less than a tenth of its former abundance by a variety of forces, including turpentining, timbering, free-range hogs, fire suppression, and "site conversion" by foresters to other trees, per Weakley's Flora

"They appreciate the natural world. They love being outdoors in nature, and tripping around in all that is unspoiled and original. They especially love things like mountains, sunsets, rivers, flowers, trees, animals and virtually all flora and fauna. They are naturalists as people, unceremonious and unpretentious, and they love the naturalness of the universe...." — Wayne Dyer